Anne's 30-Year Computing Career (Parts M - R --> from 1985 to 2015)-- by Anne Shier

My 30-year Career in Computing from 1985-2015 -- by Anne Shier Part M I was convinced by this time that teaching computer science was what I was meant to do with my life. I liked the kids in my classes; they appeared to like me back; and, I would not have had it any other way. Teaching was enjoyable and, through it, I could develop the kinder side of my personality - the part I liked most about myself. In the fall of 2000, I was finally offered a full-time teaching job at Don Mills C.I. and was thrilled to accept it.  I would spend the next 3 years there teaching a lot of different courses related to computers, but not necessarily computer programming - computer engineering, for one thing, was just another brand new thing I had to learn so that I could teach it. Fortunately, I was very interested in the course material (computer networking) and embraced this new task in my career quite happily.  Two years later, I had passed all of my teaching performance appraisals (4 of them) and was then given the much-coveted "permanent" status that I'd been seeking for so long.	Part N In my third year at Don Mills C.I., the Ministry of Education decided to do away with OAC (Ontario Academic Credits), which used to be known as Grade 13. I suppose it was thought that OAC was a wasted year in high school and that the entire high school curriculum could be taught in 4 years instead of 5. That was the year I was declared surplus (a procedure done in every public school annually).  Only now, I was in a position in which I had some documented teaching experience; I just had to hope that another school had a need for my particular skill set as a teacher. It was almost the end of the summer of 2003, just before the Labour Day weekend, when I got the telephone call to report to Albert Campbell C.I. I got this position for only one reason - because I could teach the Java programming language, a language I had managed to learn while teaching at Don Mills.
Part O I started teaching computer science at Albert Campbell that fall, thrilled to have been sent there.  I continued to be assigned to teach computer science courses, mostly to Grades 10 and 11.  Later, I was asked by the Business department to teach business technology, which consisted of teaching user software like Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint), Internet, and web page design to Grade 9. That was perfect for me.  Even later, I was asked by the head of computer science to teach computer engineering, a course that was included in the CS roster of courses at the time. A few years later, I was asked to teach Introduction to Business, which was not considered a computer-related course at all; still, I made it one by creating several PowerPoint presentations on the chapters of the Business textbook and uploading them all into a PickUp folder under my name, "Shier", for this course. Every student at Campbell has access to the PickUp folder no matter what courses they take. It's a very handy thing for students to have.  My teaching career was going gangbusters. In other words, I was having the time of my life at Campbell.	Part P While teaching at Campbell, I earned 2 additional AQ courses at UT-OISE during the next 3 summers (I took one summer off), finally earning my Computer Science Specialist certificate. I also made a decision to enroll in a certificate program in Information Technology at Ryerson U. that would span 3 years of part-time study. In fact, my IT and CS Specialist certificates allowed me to eventually reach the top of the salary grid. In conclusion, although I've had some setbacks and disappointments during my computing career, the moments that mean the most to me are my students' achievements.  I reasoned that if they succeeded in my classes, that meant I also succeeded as their teacher.  It's been an amazing feeling to have accomplished so much in just the last 15 - 17 years of teaching computer science as well as other courses. (I had also taught computer studies at Seneca College night school for a couple of years). Without any hesitation, I can say that teaching (especially teaching computer science) is, and has been, the best career I’ve ever had.
Part Q  Public school teachers in Ontario have suffered much in the last few years because the Province of Ontario is broke; the TDSB is broke; and, when it comes to looking for scapegoats, teachers’ salaries, benefits, and working conditions have all traditionally come under attack. So far, we are hanging together since our union, OSSTF (Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), has instructed us very wisely about how to act as a group during these hard times.  We know we are a strong group and we will not capitulate easily to external, or even internal, employment pressures.	Part R I am just one of those very lucky individuals who was in the right place at the right time and was thus able to take advantage of an opportunity to teach that I'd wanted for a very long time.  But, I cannot say that up-and-coming teachers in the future are going to have the same kind of opportunities I’ve had; nevertheless, I wish them all the very best.  I'll soon be retiring with a full pension that reflects the fact that I finally made it to the top of the salary grid and stayed there for at least 5 years, so I guess you could say, I am very lucky indeed to have had this wonderful teaching career for as long as I have.